Mexican

If you’ve never had camarones (shrimp) a al diabla, here’s a breakdown of how it goes:

A sauce is made. This sauce might remind you of an enchilada sauce. It’s red and flavorful and in this case, a little smoky. This sauce recipe makes quite a bit and part of me wanted to halve it but I actually ended up using it for three other dinners last week.

1st dinner: I made this.
2nd dinner: I tossed it with roasted eggplant and vegetables and ate it with quinoa.
3rd dinner: I made this again.
4th dinner: Josh used it to braise some flank steak (using one of our favorite kitchen gadgets) AND then we put it in tacos for Friday taco night and it was boooomb.

I’m on an enchilada kick lately and today I’d like to introduce to you my latest obsession: enfrijoladas. It’s like a bean and enchilada sauce got married and no I didn’t make it up, it’s actually a thing. It’s basically enchilada sauce but with mixed black beans it it and cheese because CHEESE! It feels glorious and filling (duh) and super cheesy but surprisingly not like a gut-buster. That’s probably because there’s no meat in these—they’re veggie all the way.

This weekend is this football game everyone loves called The Super Bowl. Have you heard of it? I don’t know who is playing BUT I will by Friday and when I do, I’ll proceed to do lots of research so I can root for someone. It’s funny, I don’t really watch or pay attention to sports but I love all of the ESPN’s 30 for 30s and have watched the majority of them. Perhaps because they’re story-driven and they highlight some of the most beautiful stories.

Lately I’ve been in search of warmth of all kinds. I’ll call my mom and listen to her ramble on about her day because I like the sound of her voice regardless of what she’s actually saying.

I’m currently obsessed with Amelia’s warm chubby paws. She has soft hair growing in between the pads of them hat sometimes the groomer trims down, but I sort of like when he forgets and it grows super long. The warmest of places is the corner of Josh’s shoulder where I retreat after a particularly terrible day. No place feels warmer.

And the thing I want to eat when it’s cold and damp and sucky is this bowl of green pozole. It comes from Ashley Rodriguez’s new book, Date Night In, which is a super pretty book all about my favorite day of the week: DATE NITE.

Do you have a food blog? I feel like many of you do. Or at the very least, you like to take photos of your food. We’re all weird, aren’t we?!

Last Friday, when I made this recipe, it was rainy and windy and a little cold. I was excited to cook and have the oven going, but I wasn’t in the mood to set things up, arrange forks on plates, pour a fake beer or style anything, even in a small way. I just wanted to cook and then eat. JUST LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.

So, I didn’t. At all. And this is what we get. No plates that match, no perfectly diced avocado, no homemade enchilada sauce and I even…wait for it, bought the cheese pre-shredded. I always, ALWAYS buy the blocks and grate it myself. Not last Friday!

We’re dealing with a bit of a crazy, scary heatwave that unfortunately is super common in Los Angeles during the month of September. Good ol’ September! All I want to do is bathe in a bath full of ice cubes, drink nothing but cold beer and eat ceviche and fish tacos.

That’s classic hot weather-food. It’s also the food I want to eat when I’m craving something filling and awesome, but also leaves me feeling with a bit of pep in my step.

The food looks glorious – and easy! If you like Stephanie’s blog, i am a food blog (it’s a must-read!), then you’ll love the book. The same design element from her blog is sprinkled throughout the book, the photos are modern, sleek, austere (in a good way!) and the food makes me want to run to my kitchen and make spicy chicken wings.

Also, Stephanie’s sweet and familiar personality comes through in the recipe head notes.

The question of today is: why has it taken me so long to make chilaquiles? Seriously, I’m sort of shocked this is the first time I’m posting about them because they might be one of my favorite breakfast dishes EVER.

I’m pretty sure they fall into my ‘favorites’ category because they’re so nimble; they’re great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Since I am so passionate about them, this means I’m also bratty about them.

I like chilaquiles with a bit of beer simmered in. I like them to have a bit of spice. I like there to be cheese, but not too much cheese. And I love the wedges of tortillas to be freshly fried, preferably a tad bit over. This means that when they’re topped with a bunch of sauce, they still have a bit of crunch to them.

This isn’t the right way, it’s just sort of my way.

For this recipe of my beloved Chilaquiles, I teamed up with Mi Rancho tortillas. These tortillas are made with non-gmo corn, yay! And the taco sliders (along with their other products) can be found at stores like Whole Foods or Gelson’s. I really love them.

I’ve learned in the last few weeks that giving your corn headbands is a good idea. Husks look adorable still attached to corn; they just need some help being tamed so you can smash your face into the cob of corn. Headbands made of husks totally work.

I feel like I might make elote in a somewhat controversial way. A lot of people boil corn in espazote to give it a good flavor; but honestly I loooove raw corn so I say scratch the boiling step and just go straight to the grill. The juicy, fresh-tasting corn with the bits of char are a winning combo. Boiling sounds like no fun at all. I think boiling on the scale of cooking options might be my least favorite, unless it’s boiled in butter or oil; but then it’s more like frying.

Other additions that must accompany elote? Lots of cotija cheese all crumbled, lots of lime wedges, crema or mayonnaise and ancho chile powder.

For the full recipe that isn’t really all that much like a recipe, hop on over to PBS Food

I’m still recovering from one of the worst weeks ever (last week). I took the weekend to recover and spent it by drinking copious amounts of sparkling rose, having Chinese food with friends, getting my hair blow dried, watching The World Cup and seeing Boyhood (a must-see!). I feel a million times better. Alcohol and good food has a way to ease my pains.

I’m back in the kitchen this week to share some new stuff and even hopefully finally prepare for Ice Cream Week (ahh!). I’m starting with this recipe I made for PBS Food, Grilled Pineapple Margaritas. I’m not sure if there’s anything better than the flavor combination of smokey and sweet—it’s all up in this drink! Someone suggested that this could be made with rum instead of tequila and I say go for it. I have terrible/fun college memories with tequila so I’m not married to the idea of it being made with juuust this spirit. I say go rum!

Coincidentally I have another pineapple recipe that I’m making today and it involves the entire pineapple. The whole dang thing and I’m super excited.

Sometimes I’m so hungry I feel like I might die. I know I’m being super melodramatic because people can go days and sometimes weeks without food but something happens where my blood sugar levels dictate my mood…and brain. I become angry, desperate…and then super creative.

I begin pairing ingredients that are strange and on the verge of not-so-pleasant. But a few weeks ago, I came across a freakin’ gem. I peered in my fridge, saw some tortillas, cheese and some leftover shredded chicken. That is when the first child from a quesadilla mother and taco father was born. QuesaTaco!

I’m an inventor…or so I thought. I googled it and realized some stoner kid on Reddit had already done it. SO, I didn’t exactly invent it but I still feel pretty proud of this recipe.

When I first moved to LA, and for the first time was completely on my own in this world, I freaked out if I spent more than $10 a meal. So, I did what any penny-pinching new college graduate would do: I found the cheapest most delicious meal at a Mexican-hole-in the wall where I could order three taquitos for $4. Not only was I pumped about saving a bit of money but I was also super stoked to be eating super delicious crispy taquitos. I’m big on texture so I’ll always order the crunchy variety of anything. Crispy tacos over soft tacos, etc., you get the idea…

Sometimes I look back at those times, and while I was super scared about how everything was gonna turn out, they were some of the best times. What’s not to love about being 22 years old and eating $4 taquitos in an alley with friends. Now, I prefer to make my own taquitos because I can control the flavors, quality of meat and most importantly, quality of tortillas.